The Wife of the Lamb
The Wife of the Lamb
Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.(Revelation 19:6-8—NASB)
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.(Revelation 21:2)
His wife has made herself ready.
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The first of the these two appearances of the Bride of the Lamb takes place one thousand years before the second wedding.
The difference between the two weddings is as follows:
In the first wedding, the bride makes herself ready by performing righteous acts.
In the second wedding, it is likely that other people dress her to please her husband. In fact, this is what will happen. The firstfruits of the Bride, who were raised in the first resurrection, will assist in bringing the less mature members of the Bride to the level of maturity that the Lamb requires. This work of spiritual edification will take place during the thousand-year Kingdom Age and is the primary purpose for the Kingdom Age.
We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.(Song of Solomon 8:8,9)
You see, only a firstfruits of true, eternal Israel will be fully prepared, fully dressed, for the marriage to the Lamb when He next returns to earth. They have clothed themselves with righteous behavior. Their wedding is described in Revelation 19:6-8.
The firstfruits will assist the less mature members of true, eternal Israel to come to the maturity the Lamb requires. Then the "whole house of true eternal Israel" will descend from Heaven through the new sky to be installed forever on the new earth, to serve as the Royal Priesthood.
It is interesting that we are in debt to the Jews in that they have given us a Savior and our Bible, Old and New Testaments.
When the full number of Gentiles have grown in Christ to God's satisfaction, the Gentiles will go to Jerusalem and using the techniques or redemption they have learned, they will repay the debt we owe the Jews by delivering them from the urges to sin that keep them bound.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: (Romans 11:26)
Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 37:23)
The Gentiles who came out of Zion, and the Jews whom they helped obtain deliverance from sin, constitute one true, eternal Israel.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39,40)
Is there any Bible background for the idea that the Christian Church (true, eternal Israel) will, during the program of redemption, be divided into a less mature company and temporarily into a smaller, more mature group? There are several illustrations. In fact, the notion of a "firstfruits" requires at least two groups.
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. (Revelation 14:4)
There is a first resurrection of the saints. (Revelation 20:6)
The Tabernacle of the Congregation with its Most Holy Place and Holy Place portrays two levels of holiness and two areas of service. Yet it was one tabernacle.
There were the "mighty men" of Israel who excelled in war. David reigned at first over Judah, and after several years over all Israel.
Because the purpose of the next coming of the Lord Jesus is to assemble His army and then descend and install His Kingdom on the earth, it is apparent that most of the churchgoers are not prepared for such a terrific conflict. So it is true that only a "Gideon's Army" will gather to Christ when the trumpet sounds. be resurrected (changed) and then be caught up to the staging area in the air to become part of the army of Christ.
Two marriages of the Lamb separated by the thousand-year Kingdom Age. The first consisting of those who have prepared themselves by living righteously. The second consisting of the rest of God's elect priesthood who are "dressed" by others.
I trust no believer will decide to wait to be "dressed" by others. This preparatory work is only for those who did not have the opportunity, or for some other reason, to attain to the first resurrection. Those who are lazy and careless will lose their crown, their inheritance!
There was a time when God the Father was alone.
At some point the Father brought forth the Word, the Logos.
Through the Logos, God created all things of the universe, including the angelic orders.
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2)
The Logos was absolute Lord of all He surveyed, in that He had created it all. But His Father had something even better for Him. He made the Logos in the form of a man, a human being.
God was not through blessing His only begotten Son. God planned a helper suitable for Him. It is not good for a man to be alone. What good is it to be Lord of all you survey if there is no one to share it with?
So God, according to His plan to make a helper suitable for His only begotten Son, created mankind.
This is what human history is all about. It is the selecting of a helper for the Son of God and dressing her appropriately for the marriage.
Perhaps as religious groups appeared, during the history of the world, Jesus would ask the Father, "Is she the one?" "Wait a while," the Father would respond.
Perhaps without Jesus realizing the significance of what was taking place, during each period of History there would appear individuals, such as Enoch and Abraham, who would be totally dedicated to God; totally obedient to what was demanded of them.
Then the Father commanded Christ to return to earth. With great fanfare, an earth-shaking shout, and a mighty trumpet blast, Christ, the white war-stallions, and the army of angels, took their place in the air where Satan had once issued his destructive orders.
Jesus ordered the godliest people of history, who had accompanied Him from Heaven, to continue on down and claim their bodies from their place of interment.
Then, perhaps to the amazement of the Lord Jesus, there began to appear along with the outstanding saints of history, all in new shining bodies, people who had been alive on the earth at this time and had set themselves to attain to the first resurrection.
The Father spoke into the mind of His Lamb:
Next Part "There she is!"